Canada's Maxxian is pitching American cable operators on a solution for automatically detecting -- and disabling -- set-top boxes that are still active conditional-access systems but aren't associated with active accounts.
The privately held company, founded in 2004, is based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Maxxian claims its service provider customers manage and control more than 5 million set-tops. The only customer the company would identify is Barbados-based Columbus Communications that serves parts of the Caribbean.
The vendor's new CounterStryx Tracker Automation reduces the time required for chronic set-top box polls within an operator's network by 60% by eliminating unnecessary polling, according to Maxxian. CounterStryx Tracker Automation is an option for Maxxian CounterStryx Operations Center systems, and can be managed across multiple systems.
The development and production test of CounterStryx Tracker Automation included the deletion of over half a million obsolete set-tops from conditional access systems and the disabling of "thousands of unauthorized set-tops," said Maxxian chief technology officer R.J. Juneau. "The set-top shutdown methods we are employing result in more set-tops returning to paying accounts faster than ever before."
